The Key To A Valentine
by Zucht
Summary: It's the day after Valentines, Chloe and Jimmy have car trouble near the Kent farm. After walking to the farm house for help they find it deserted and they find some Valentine's clues, but no Lois and Clark. A Clois story without the principles.


**A/N:** It's been a while since my last 'Key' story, but this one defiately fits. I also think that this is a Clois story and neither character are in this story, but I think it still fits... Tell me what you think after you've read it.

**The Key To A Valentine**

After four years of an on-again, off-again relationship, Chloe Sullivan and James "Jimmy" Olsen are over. The last two years had developed a working friendship that they enjoyed; it allowed them to have their friendship with out the drama that always seemed to interfere. One thing that helped was the new editor-in-chief of their newspaper had recognized the talent they shared and fostered it while their relationship had a chance to develop passed the juvenile 'I hate you' period.

This new found partnership had occurred while the same editor paired another unlikely duo, Lois Lane and Clark Kent. He had hoped that the volatile Miss Lane could be tampered by the strong, yet mild mannered, Mr. Kent. Anyway, he owed Mr. Kent his life and the only position he could reasonable give the young man was as a junior reporter. Besides he had seen the fire in her eyes when the young man had entered the bull pen and couldn't resist a little match making.

He was successful, sort of…

The verbal abuse that she gave the young man didn't border on abuse, it was abuse. It surprised him that the quiet young man not only took the abuse but could return it or ignore it. He would have separated the two but somehow the junior reporter was managing to keep the intrepid Miss Lane out of his hair and more importantly many of the dangers she had usually managed to get herself into.

Still, he would have separated them if not for the quality of their work. Within a month they had broken a major political scandal and he had been forced to promote the pair, A month after that they had cracked a slavery ring and proved corruption in a Lex Luthor owned medical supplies company, then he give them senior reporter status with a major – ahem – pay raise.

This however had little to do with why Chloe and Jimmy were walking down the lane to the Kent farm house…

--

"Still no answer?"

"No, and it doesn't seem right! Lois and Clark have the night off while we get stuck pretending to be a couple so we can investigate a Valentine's party."

"Was it so bad, being with me last night?"

"It's not that… Chad broke up with me when I told him I had to work last night."

"I'm sorry, Chloe, you deserve better."

"Thanks, Jimmy, I appreciate it."

"Any time… Isn't that Lois' car parked beside Clark's truck?"

"It looks like it, maybe he can get your car running."

"I doubt it, I told you the hose broke. I can fix it, I just need a ride to whatever auto parts story Smallville has."

--

The kitchen door was locked, but when they tried the front door it swung open easily.

"Lois!" She called, "Clark!"

"Hey, Big Guy! Anyone here?"

After trying the light switch and finding it ineffective, Chloe opened the drapes allowing the early morning light to flood the living room. "It looks deserted, I wonder where they are?"

As was custom, Jimmy had zeroed in on the kitchen, "Someone had a romantic dinner; candles and two place settings."

She had followed him into the kitchen and noticed the take-out packaging. "The receipt is for grilled halibut with salsa, green snow peas and bowtie pasta."

He made a face that reflected his disgust at the menu.

She replied to his look of distaste, "Not everyone thinks Hot Dogs are haute cuisine."

"Hey, Hot Fudge!" He cried as he found the dishes and empty sauce jar in the sink. "At least they had a decent dessert. You don't think CK and Lois are finally together?"

"With the way they fight? I highly doubt it; she probably stopped by this morning to talk about a story."

"Then where are they and who's the lucky girl? Better yet, why haven't they answered their cell phones; Lois is the only person I know that uses hers more than you use yours."

"Low blow Olsen."

"I'm just saying that in the pursuit of your work you use your phone a lot."

"Jimmy!... Why don't you look in the loft while I check my email? Maybe Lois left me a message.

--

She sat at the desk in Clark's bedroom and turned on his old computer, she hated waiting on outdated systems! Finally it connected and she had to wait for the system to allow her usage of the Planet's server. There were 39 emails in her inbox, 1 from Lois and 1 from Clark. She opened Lois' first…

_Aloha Cuz,_

_I know it was sudden, but Perry and Clark talked me into taking a long weekend. Something about driving them crazy, so I hopped a jet headed for the islands._

_See you Monday afternoon!_

_Lo_

_PS: Smallville is going to fix an electrical problem in my car so you won't see it at the apartment._

Chloe smiled to herself, that explained her cousin's absence; Maui was one of her favorite places in the world. The she opened Clark's…

_Hi Chloe – _

_I won't be around the rest of this week. The farm needs a little attention, so does Lois' car, and I'm researching oneuili for a story. See you Monday._

_-Clark_

Oneuili?

While she waited for the Planet's search engine to come up, she didn't notice that she was the subject of scrutiny until he kissed her behind her right ear.

"Shelby!" She yelled, after jumping up and landing hard right back onto the hard wooden chair.

"Come on, boy, let's get you outside."

--

Jimmy stood in the loft and whistled; ten dozen long stemmed red roses, about thirty candles he estimated, and an orchid lei; he hadn't seen one of those since his father was station in Hawaii when he was a kid. It sure pays to be on senior reporter's salary.

Then he saw the hand-made card. He had to admit it was pretty well drawn, even if the golden arrow was through a red plaid heart.

Whoever had written it had a strong but feminine hand, was imaginative but not very poetic…

_I Love You_

_I'm Sorry_

_I love your kisses_

_I'm sorry your's wasn't my first_

_I love our relationship_

_I'm sorry that it took me so long_

_I love when we 'love'_

_I'm sorry you aren't my first_

_I love that I can ask you – be my last!_

**XxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**The End**


End file.
